Traeger Timberline???

[brandonh1987]

How is it performing now? Have they fixed issues? How does the low and slow food come out? Obviously not the smoke from a stick burner, but how does it compare to the older traegers?

Thanks!

 

[brandonh1987]

Bump... no opinions? I’ve used the search function, however a lot of those are over a year old.

 

[smoke ninja]

traeger doesn't get that much love around here. most of what I hear of them is bad. my own personal experience wasn't the greatest but it wasn't that model.

 

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

Food for thought : a few months ago I went to a Traeger Workshop because Diva-Q was hosting the class. I quickly found out the Workshop was basically just a Traeger sales session. Anyway, out of 50 people there I was the only one without a Traeger. The sales rep was talking about how great Traeger was but he asked people to raise their hands if they had ever had a flameout. EVERY single person raised their hands without even thinking about it. 49/49 Traeger owners had experienced a flameout.

I will also note that they spent 10 minutes telling us about how amazing their Super Smoke feature was and how it neglected every other factor and only focused on giving off a perfect smoke profile. This is funny because so many people on here (and a few in the class) were discussing the soot issues they've had with their Timberlines.

Looking at the old thread here on the Brethren it appears as many people ended up selling their Timberline out of frustration.

 

[highergr0und]

I do like my Traeger. I don't think I could really beat it at the $600 price level, but once you get up there in price there are some really attractive options from the boutique BBQ manufacturers.

 

[Pedro7]

Food for thought : a few months ago I went to a Traeger Workshop because Diva-Q was hosting the class. I quickly found out the Workshop was basically just a Traeger sales session. Anyway, out of 50 people there I was the only one without a Traeger. The sales rep was talking about how great Traeger was but he asked people to raise their hands if they had ever had a flameout. EVERY single person raised their hands without even thinking about it. 49/49 Traeger owners had experienced a flameout.

I will also note that they spent 10 minutes telling us about how amazing their Super Smoke feature was and how it neglected every other factor and only focused on giving off a perfect smoke profile. This is funny because so many people on here (and a few in the class) were discussing the soot issues they've had with their Timberlines.

Looking at the old thread here on the Brethren it appears as many people ended up selling their Timberline out of frustration.

Not surprised to hear this, honestly. I feel like Traeger almost sells their product "too hard." If you are on social media they are borderline aggressive with how much they post. Maybe it's because myself and the general population on here is a bit more knowledgeable than the average home cook and don't really buy into the gimmicks or the "celebrities" they have selling it. I feel like they are trying to make people buy into a brand (kinda like Yeti does), but their products really aren't that great nor is their brand as strong like Yeti.

Perfect example is the new Traeger Ranger little camp grill thing. They market it excessively as a grill that you can bring out next to the trout stream or camping or as the say #grilloffgrid. Who in their right mind is going to travel with a generator, a 60lb pellet grill, and a bag of pellets out to their trout stream to cook one rack of ribs or a couple pieces of chicken loaded with "wood fired flavor" while listening to the noise of the generator the whole time? I'll go get a little 5lb Weber for $30 and get probably better results while enjoying the silence, thanks. Again, trying to create a need that us as consumers didn't know we had.

I'm sure they make a decent pellet grill, but they aren't getting my money when I can spend half that on a GMG that has never flamed out or (knock on wood) had any significant issues since i've had it.

 

[seakuv]

Ha! My idea of "grilling off grid" is laying fresh caught trout wrapped in wet leaves right on the coals of a small campfire.

 

[retfr8flyr]

Got a hands on look at the Traeger Timberline 1300 yesterday, not impressed. The front shelf is just decorative, it's not deep enough to be useful, maybe to hold the corner of a tray while you open the lid. Their vaunted double wall construction consists of a piece of what looks like 24 gauge stainless steel screwed to the walls with about 1/2 inch air gap, they are not sealed together just an open air gap, The lid is nice and sturdy and I like the seal and the hinges but not really impressed with the rest. The racks are very heavy duty but the bottom rack, which is very heavy, already had a bow in it, at least in the model I was looking at, from being so heavy with only supports on the sides, I can't see how it will hold under lots of heavy meat. In the lower position it has better support but not in the upper position. I think they would have been much better off making it a 2 piece design. I am glad I wasn't really considering the Timberline anymore.

 

[checkrd past]

Green Mountain Grill

 

[electron_si]

I’ve seen the timberline in person and while I will say the fit and finish is extremely nice compared to my lil Tex, for the price a mak or Yoder would be a better choice. They both offer direct sear options and offer subjectively better quality. The mak controller is probably better as well, I’d imagine the Yoder is about equal.

 

[Pedro7]

I’ve seen the timberline in person and while I will say the fit and finish is extremely nice compared to my lil Tex, for the price a mak or Yoder would be a better choice. They both offer direct sear options and offer subjectively better quality. The mak controller is probably better as well, I’d imagine the Yoder is about equal.

Agreed. If I had $1500 to spend on a pellet grill it would be Yoder YS640.

 

[MountainMan]

There is an old saying "you get what you pay for".

 

[KevinJ]

There is an old saying "you get what you pay for".

Well they aren't exactly cheap so I don't think that saying really applies here.

To the OP if you need 1300 capacity and at that price point I would look at Yoder or Smokin Brothers, if you don't need that much capacity the MAK 1 Star/2 Star or if you can go up in price Memphis.

Too many other good option than the Timberline imo.

 

[SideSt3p]

I was incredibly interested when they were first launched. After reading through threads here though I'm not sold. At this point, the only way I'll own a Traeger is if I win one from a giveaway

I think I'd rather throw my money at a Rec-Tec if I was looking in that price point...and the Rec-Tec is cheaper >.<

 

[Acer]

I don't own the Timberline, but I do have the Traeger Ironwood 885 which is not sold in the US (yet?). It was given to me by someone that was beta testing it for Traeger. He has about 8 other smokers including another Traeger and was nice enough to gift this one to me.

I have only cooked on it a few times, so far so good. While it is not the same as the Timberlines, it is comparable in some aspects.

It uses the WiFire control and Traeger App on my phone which so far I really like. I can start a cook, and head to a buddy's house to watch a game and still monitor grill and probe temperatures and even change the temperature setting if I want.

Temperature control has been excellent. So far, no flameouts, but time will tell.

 

[electron_si]

I’ve had 1 or 2 flameouts on my grill before adding my Savannah stoker. IMO with the basic timed pellet controller it’s only a matter of time until a flameout happens. That controller just can’t account for anything like wind ambient temp etc. If traeger added a simple PID controller they would be way ahead of the game on their lower end models. The Savannah stoker on my unit makes it so much better. I run +\- 5 degrees as the norm regardless of rain snow etc.

And I agree that traeger over markets. It’s too much. They are trying to create a household brand but they have some issues that are tough to overcome. The timberline problems need to be corrected. That’s a fundamentally excellent smoker but the price point and known flaws are attracting a lot of poor reviews.

I will say that their customer service is excellent though. I had a pellet bind that seemed to strip some gears in my auger. They had an auger motor in the mail after 10 mins on the phone.

 

[Montana Jack]

I've been happy with mine. As said, not near the smoke profile of a stick burner, but convenience is hard to beat when I don't have time to watch the stick burner. Also nice can go off and leave and monitor food temp and adjust grill temp remotely. i do find the double wall is a big improvement in holding temp in cold weather. I've had no problems, but I do clean it thoroughly periodically. Not saying others may not be better, but didn't have many options close by.